Brilliance of the Seas - Multi glacier Experience cruise - June 18-25

[Beyond the Sea]

We are nearing the end of our 7 day cruise and I wanted to provide a few comments on our experience.  
 

I booked the cruise in the Fall of last year and picked it for all the opportunities to see different glaciers - surely to goodness we would be able to see at least one out of the 3 options.  We also booked the Hubbard Glacier tour just in case the ship couldn’t get that close.  
 

We couldn’t have asked for better weather -  the early mornings may have started out foggy but the fog did clear and we had beautiful days for touring.  We packed rain gear but never needed it or required our “puffer” jackets.  A fleece with a shell was the most we needed on deck.

 

The cruise down Tracy Arm was beautiful and we got quite close to the North Sawyer Glacier. 
 

The tour to Hubbard was shortened due to mechanical problems with the tour boat but we were compensated.  We were able to get so much closer than Brilliance.  I’m not sure if Brilliance is restricted on how close it can sail or if it is judged by the ice flow (there was a lot of ice in the water) but we felt the cost of the tour was worth it.  The view was incredible and we did see some small calfing.

 

We took a private whale watching tour in Juneau and the shuttle to the tour stopped for a photo op of Mendenhall Glacier in the distance.  We didn’t have enough port time to do both a whale watching tour and trip to the Glacier.

 

I’m extremely happy with my choice in the cruise itinerary and would repeat it again without hesitation.  
 

Would I repeat with Royal?  No.  I knew going in that there would likely be many families but thinking that the school term would not yet be done in some areas hoped we wouldn’t be overwhelmed by children.  There are over 500 children on the ship and we have struggled to find somewhere to escape the noise. The Solarium is open to children multiple times a day so they can use the pool and they are in most of the bars due to the different scheduled activities.  Royal really needs to offer some quiet areas during the day.  I would prefer not to have to escape to my room.

 

The other issue is the food and alcohol.  I know food is subjective but we have cruised on several lines and have been cruising for almost 20 years and the food isn’t very good for the most part.  The dining room food at breakfast and dinner was being served cold to lukewarm even with made to order eggs.  We did talk to the maitre d after a couple of days and did see an improvement.  We haven’t found a lot of choices in the Windjammer at lunch.  We are using the Diamond coupons for drinks and seem to be struggling to use them with the limited mixed drink choices and the quality of the drinks.

 

I will say that the staff have been very friendly especially the guys at Lattitudes.  Everyone always smiles and says hello.  
 

If anyone has questions, fire away.  This is my opinion and I respect that others may have a completely different experience.

[sgmn]

Thanks for your trip report. Your photos are stunning.

It's been a fair few years since we've been on an Alaska cruise,   think I'm fitting the itch to go again 

Edited June 24, 2023 by sgmn

[Oceansaway17]

Do they slide the roof to cover pool or leave open because of large screen?

[Beyond the Sea]

8 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Do they slide the roof to cover pool or leave open because of large screen?

We have not seen the roof of the solarium open at all during this trip. The screen is at the outdoor pool and there isn’t any chance of watching it from within the solarium.

Edited June 24, 2023 by Beyond the Sea

[long4acruise]

Thanks much for sharing your story and the beautiful photos! We did the Inside Passage on Vision departing from Seattle in 2007.  Have been saying we want to go back to Alaska for some extended time (B2B or B3B), so hopefully in 2025 since we can't squeeze it in during 2024.

Would like to stick to RC for familiarity, the loyalty and shareholder perks but we're open to other cruiselines' itineraries, if a good fit. 

[latebuyer]

Thanks for sharing. I go tomorrow and i didn’t realize there were so many kids! You were lucky to see tracy arm! Did you do my time dining and if so did you have a long wait?

[ReneeFLL]

Beautiful pictures.

[Beyond the Sea]

43 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Thanks for sharing. I go tomorrow and i didn’t realize there were so many kids! You were lucky to see tracy arm! Did you do my time dining and if so did you have a long wait?

Tracy Arm and the glacier were beautiful and the weather was perfect.  
 

We did traditional dining and the specialty restaurants.  We couldn’t figure out how the dining worked as it seems they mixed my time seatings with the traditional dining tables.  We ate at 5 (too early but the late dining is too late for us) and at that time the dining room was never busy.  We only saw lines when the dining room opened.

 

if you are stopping Ketchikan,  we did the Bering Sea fishermen tour and we were surprised by how much we enjoyed it.  There is a particular stop with bald eagles that was probably one of the highlights of our vacation.

 

Have a great cruise!

[latebuyer]

Thanks! Yes i am going on the bering crab fishermen tour too so glad to hear you enjoyed it! I hope we can get in tracy arm and feel more hopeful knowing you did.

[Beyond the Sea]

We had a balcony cabin and had started watching Tracy Arm from the balcony.  Definitely go to the front of the ship to watch the cruise through Tracy Arm.  You will miss the impact of the fjord without the complete view.

 

Bring binoculars if you have them.  There were tons of seals on the ice.

Edited June 25, 2023 by Beyond the Sea

[Oceansaway17]

17 hours ago, Beyond the Sea said:

We have not seen the roof of the solarium open at all during this trip. The screen is at the outdoor pool and there isn’t any chance of watching it from within the solarium.

I am talking the main pool at least on Serenade

[latebuyer]

My mom thought you didn’t have to go see tracy arm right at 6:30 but you should stay to very end. (She went last year) Do you think that’s ok or should you be there right at 6:30?

[Beyond the Sea]

1 hour ago, latebuyer said:

My mom thought you didn’t have to go see tracy arm right at 6:30 but you should stay to very end. (She went last year) Do you think that’s ok or should you be there right at 6:30?

I don’t think you need to be there at the start but if the ship can get close to the glacier you probably want to be at the front as it nears it. Looking at the time stamps on my photos, it seems we were able to start seeing the glacier in the distance around 7:30.  

[latebuyer]

Thank you!

[latebuyer]

In windjammer now, i thought the roast beef was quite good. Love the fruit!

[latebuyer]

Was there a particular meal in the mdr you enjoyed? I know you said you didn't like the food, just wondering.

[Beyond the Sea]

3 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Was there a particular meal in the mdr you enjoyed? I know you said you didn't like the food, just wondering.

Do you have the Royal app installed on your smart phone?  If so,  the entire week of menus are available under Dining, Main dining and the dining room.  I had the curry the first night and it was tasty. Their French onion soup was also good. Looking at the days we ate at the specialty restaurants, the dining room looked to have some good options.  

[Beyond the Sea]

[latebuyer]

Great pictures! I was actually thinking of the curry so thats great! Where did you sit for berings fishermen tour? Were you on the first or second floor?

[Beyond the Sea]

20 minutes ago, latebuyer said:

Great pictures! I was actually thinking of the curry so thats great! Where did you sit for berings fishermen tour? Were you on the first or second floor?

 

I had read online to try to get the 2nd row on the first floor but they were taken when we got there.  We sat in the back row on the first floor and it was fine.  You can stand up and also move around during the tour.  To do it again I might consider the side seats on the 2nd floor just for the eagle part of the tour.  That part is a goosebump experience!

 

The seats on the 2nd floor are behind the life preserver shown below:

[latebuyer]

Thanks. Looking forward to it!

[Beyond the Sea]

I had read some comments on different cruises about the coffee machines in the Diamond lounge as I was hoping to be able to use them on the cruise.  It was available during the entire cruise and was very easy to use.  I normally added an extra shot is espresso.  I did notice that there was also a pitcher of orange juice in the lounge most if not all morning.